Hans Urwyler (20 February 1925 - 18 November 1994) was the sixth Chief Apostle (international church president) of the New Apostolic Church.

Life

Hans Urwyler was born into a New Apostolic parents' house in Bern, Switzerland. His maternal ancestors, French

Huguenots The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

, had emigrated to Switzerland. His grandfather, Hans Plüss, was one of the first New Apostolic

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

s in Switzerland. He studied to be a machine

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and after training at the technical school of

Biel , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) ...

he joined the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...

business of his college friend. In his youth, he was the choir conductor in his home congregation in Schwarzenburg. There, he had also met his wife Hedi Wenger, whom he married in 1949. They have two sons. After the sudden death of

Chief Apostle The Chief Apostle is the highest minister in the New Apostolic Church, and has existed since 1896. History The term "Chief Apostle" was first used officially to describe Jesus Christ in the New Covenant Scriptures, Book of Hebrews, Chapter 3, vers ...

Ernst Streckeisen during a service tour in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, Hans Urwyler was elected as Chief Apostle by an international apostles' meeting on 18 November 1978, but he remained leader of the District Church Switzerland until 1 January 1980.

Term in office

During his term in office the membership of the church was growing rapidly.

Urwyler undertook many tours inside

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

and 28 overseas. He ordained more than 180 apostles worldwide. In 1986, he declared that every New Apostolic Christian had personal responsibility for his own faith's existence, and he proved love, helpfulness and sympathy toward believers whose lifestyle outside the currently acceptable limits of the church (e.g.

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

concubinage Concubinage is an interpersonal and sexual relationship between a man and a woman in which the couple does not want, or cannot enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarded as similar but mutually exclusive. Concubin ...

and

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...

) and arranged their permit for the Holy Communion. In 1985, a major schism occurred in the

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

area, led by apostle Hermann Gottfried Rockenfelder, who founded the ''Apostolische Gemeinde Wiesbaden'' with 1,000 adherents. After a tour of Africa, he suffered a severe stroke, from which he had not convalesced completely. On 28 August 1987, he ordained

Richard Fehr Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Old Frankish and is a compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'stron ...

as Chief Apostle Helper, therefore his representative, in Bern hospital and in presence of several

an District Apostles. On 3 May 1988, he ordained Richard Fehr as new Chief Apostle, while still in the hospital in Bern and in presence of several District Apostles from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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and

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

. Finally, he retired himself. His sunset years were marked by his severe disease. He died in his domestic circle, after further strokes, in 1994.

Ministries

*1949 Subdeacon *1952

Deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

*1953

Priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

*1964 Shepherd *1965 District Evangelist *1966 District Elder *27 April 1969

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is c ...

*1 January 1976

District Apostle A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

- Church president NAC Switzerland *18 November 1978

External links

Image of Hans Urwyler
{{DEFAULTSORT:Urwyler, Hans Swiss Christian religious leaders People from Bern 1925 births 1994 deaths Members of the New Apostolic Church